At the end of August to early September, the first results of the checks on OPEKEPE were expected by the Minister of Rural Development and Food, Costas Tsiaras, in an interview with SKAI, adding that payments will restart and “unravel” the biological programs at the same time.

Speaking about OPEKEPE, Mr Tsiaras said that the special team formed has begun to bear fruit, stressing that “by the end of August a large number of people who have taken illegal money will be faced with justice” and noting that “

He said that the delays in payments were due to cross -checks that are made by adding that payments “will be made by the end of the month – early next, after the platforms are completed” while assuring that “there will be no way to disturb the flow of such money”, “there will be a need for the flow of the money”.

He also made a special reference to the biological, where, as he said, “we are confronted with a reality that we could not believe in ourselves.” He said that “there was a region with 93,000 hectares for organic farming, when the next – with more animals – had only 16,000 hectares”, while “if we summarized all the hives declared in organic beekeeping, they would equal them.”

The substantive controls, he said, led to “a group of producers from programs, absences from controls, but also temporarily lifting organizations who did not do their job properly.” He made it clear that “payments of old organic products will be thawed at the end of the month – early next” and, as he added, “in September there will be a steady flow of payment”.

Among other things, Mr Tsiaras also referred to the smallpox, saying that “the fact that we have an exacerbation lately creates the need to ring bells for all of us” adding that a special Task Force has already been set up under the competent Secretary -General. “I call on we all work seriously to uproot it as soon as possible. It is absolutely necessary to keep the level of livestock high, because Greece is a dairy country and feta is a national product and added value for exports and the economy, “he said.

Finally, Mr. Tsiaras talked about the death of Apostolos Vesiropoulos, whom he described as “a rare man, dedicated to what he did”, who “loved our lineup, the New Democracy, but also his homeland, Imathia”.